In the Bible there is a certain class of mortal sin, “sins crying out to heaven for vengeance” and amongst those is “injustice to the wage earner,” defrauding a laborer of his wages. A variation on that theme is what the GOP excels in doing nowadays, which is ripping off the elderly and/or unsuspecting with recurring credit card debits. If you are dealing with the Republican party and you are stupid enough to give them a penny and your financial information, caveat emptor is all that I have to say to you. New York Times:
William W. Vaughan Jr. was a senior atmospheric scientist at NASA during the space race and later an accomplished academic, but as with so many aging Americans, time and technology had sapped him of some of his savvy, especially online.
Computers made him feel “like a duck out of water,” his son Steve Vaughan said. So when Steve was sorting through the elder Mr. Vaughan’s papers after his death at 90 in December, he was unsettled by what he found on his father’s final credit card bill.
The first item was familiar: $11.82 at the local Chick-fil-A in Huntsville, Ala. But every other charge on the first page, and there were dozens of them, was to the firm that processes online Republican campaign contributions, WinRed. Over four months last year, Mr. Vaughan had made 400 donations totaling nearly $11,500 — to Donald J. Trump, Mitch McConnell, Tim Scott, Steve Scalise and many others.
The sum was far beyond the realm of his financial ability, his son said, and sure enough, he soon discovered handwritten notes outlining what appeared to be his father’s call disputing the charges with his credit card company. He is still seething at the avalanche of charges and “what they did to a 90-year-old” just before his death.
The only question here is how many tens of thousands of people is this happening to in this country? 56% of online contributions are made from people who identify as retired. The GOP is making millions off of people who can’t afford it and don’t know it’s happening. And of course you recall the recent scandal where the Trump campaign had the recurring donation box automatically checked, and donees had to find a way to uncheck it — usually after finding themselves crippled in debt.
Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, the chairwoman of the Rules Committee, which oversees federal elections administration, noted that many older Americans were particularly isolated during the coronavirus pandemic, and were simultaneously forced to be online more to connect with family and friends. “They had no choice,” she said, “so it is really easy to target them.”
Ms. Klobuchar, a Democrat, recently introduced legislation to ban prechecked boxes that repeat donations after the Federal Election Commission unanimously recommended outlawing the practice in the wake of the Times investigation.
“Politicians are always courting the votes of seniors,” she said. “Then, behind their backs, they’re scamming them for money. It’s pretty bad.”
I unsubscribed from emails from the DCCC because I was sick of their hair-on-fire, the sky is falling tone, but I was never soaked for a penny that I didn’t authorize.
The GOP is corrupt beyond description.
Me too wrt the DCCC, but they’ve never ripped me off, either.
I made a donation via ActBlue once, and was spammed with emails begging for donations. At least 3-4 emails a week for more than 3 years. After I got a new email account, I still monitor the old one. I still get the occasional email asking for donations. But I have never been ripped off.
I too made a donation via ActBlue when Beto was running against Ted Cruz. Like Nonya, I started getting donation requests. Not by the dozens but more than 300 a day. I takes a lot of time to unsubscribe. Every morning and throught the day it’s now up to about 700. The only good news is that I’m retired and have the time to get rid of them. It’s not just politicians. There are a lot of non-profits with their hands out such as Friends of the Earth, Earth Justice, Peta, ASPCA and a whole lot more. However, I have never been ripped off. At least ActBlue gives the option of a one-time donation or monthly which I cannot do considering my meager monthly deposit from Social Security.
I was ripped off by ActBlue last year and earlier this year by reoccurring charges I didn’t find until my statement came the following month.
I was charged without receipt for 2$100 donations for someone I’d never heard of. In that case and many others there was no receipt. I was charged for opening the emails. My DIL got much back but they got about 20% of my Social Security. I’m determined to not donate online, but send donations by mail.
my dad just passed in May, He was subscribed to lots of these things. It is taking me months to work it all out. Even though he has died his accounts go on.